SPOKANE, Wash. — This year there are 62 Special Olympics teams competing in Hoopfest 2017.
One of those 62 teams is The Sparkles and the team's members are excited for all the fun.
"It's fun and it's my first time," Courtney Bell, player for The Sparkles, said.
This is the first time The Sparkles team members Courtney Bell, Mariah Bechtel and Robin Larson are playing in Hoopfest.
"It's fun, we are good team, team Sparkles," Bechtel said.
The Sparkles is one of six teams from The Wolfpack, a local Special Olympics team for adults.
Wolfpack Athletic Coordinator Dixie Costigan stepped in to offer The Sparkles a little guidance in their first Hoopfest tournament.
62 Special Olympics teams are competing in Hoopfest this year. These athletes are excited to be playing in such a big tournament. @KREM2 pic.twitter.com/zW6rPnukj9
— Alexa Block (@KREMAlexa) June 24, 2017
"I was just sitting here cheering for them and said okay we need to have a strategy so we called time out and I volunteered," Costigan said.
Costigan said she didn't think twice about volunteering to coach these athletes and it is always a pleasure to see them compete during Hoopfest.
"It's huge, it's one of those inclusive, normalizing things, that gets to happen and helps them just be just real people like everyone else in Spokane right now,” Costigan said.
Win or lose, this weekend is about one thing.
"Hoopfest is a lot of fun," Larson said.